R.G. RATCLIFFE and JOE HOLLEY, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
July 7, 2010

SAN ANTONIO – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White told a group of Bexar County lawyers Tuesday that "integrity starts at the top" and accused Gov. Rick Perry of linking state appointments to campaign contributions.

White also seized on a Texas Democratic Party ethics complaint filed Tuesday to say Perry failed to report a bank loan for a house on his personal financial disclosure statements because he does not want anyone to know to whom he is indebted.

Perry, speaking at the NASA headquarters in Houston about oil spill prevention, said he has "lots of reports to file" and dismissed White's criticism as "little I-gotcha" politics.

"Bill White's been running for governor now for close to a year, and he has yet to lay out one positive, substantive policy issue for this state," Perry said. "We have serious issues in this country, like … how do you make sure that there's not another oil spill in Texas, not did somebody fill out paperwork on one line of a report correctly."

White's critique on Perry was part of a three-pronged ethics assault on the governor. White went after Perry's appointments, while the state party filed a complaint on the home loan with the Texas Ethics Commission and the Lone Star Project released an e-mail it claimed linked Perry's campaign with an effort to get the Green Party on the state ballot this fall.

White said Perry has used his power of appointments to create a "political machine" that raises money for his political campaigns.

$10 million in donations

White said Perry has a campaign finance leadership committee of 122 individuals, more than 100 of whom have received appointments to state boards and commissions. White said Perry collectively has received almost $10 million in political donations from these individuals.

"You think in a state of some 24 million people that it's a coincidence that the very most qualified people to serve on boards and commissions would belong to one party and would be disproportionately his donors," White told aBexar County Women's Bar Association luncheon.

White said he plans to lay out a plan to limit campaign contributions from appointees if he is elected governor.

In an interview, White said he would limit donations after someone is appointed, not before.

Perry and previous governors frequently have bestowed appointments as rewards for donors after they have given to a campaign committee.

Green Party issue

White also chided Perry over evidence that one of his paid campaign consultants was involved in trying to help the Green Party win ballot status through a petition drive paid for with possibly illegal corporate contributions.

The Lone Star Project said an e-mail released in the Democratic Party's lawsuit to keep the Green Party off the ballot showed Green officials were in contact with Republican consultant Anthony Holm, whose Patriot Group has done work for Perry's campaign.

Holm said Tuesday he has done no work for Perry's campaign in connection with the Green Party ballot initiative, but did work for the Green Party. Holm's company did more than $70,000 in "technology consulting" for Perry's campaign last year.

Democrats claim the Green Party got certified for the ballot through a petition drive paid for with illegal corporate funds. Democrats said the effort was meant to siphon votes from White. The case is pending before the Texas Supreme Court.

Holm said Republicans want the Green Party on the ballot to offset the negative impact Libertarian candidates have on GOP candidates.

Complaint tied to loan

White also seized on a Texas Democratic Party ethics complaint filed Tuesday to say Perry failed to report a bank loan for a house on his personal financial disclosure statements.

The original loan for a house for Perry's daughter was $179,900 from Prime Lending, a Plains Capital company, according to the Texas Ethics Commission complaint. The chairman of Plains Capital Bank's central and south Texas region is James R. Huffines, a past Perry money-raiser and appointee to the University of Texas board of regents.

White claimed a second loan on the property issued at the same time the house was bought in 2007 may have been an improper loan for the down payment.

Perry's campaign did not respond to questions about the loans. Huffines could not be reached for comment.